Bureaucrat on song

Hari Om is a bureaucrat who also impresses with his crooning skills

Think of a bureaucrat and what comes to mind is a serious, person. But Hari Om begs to differ. He sports a relaxed and sociable look. And if you observe keenly you may even catch him crooning under his breath.

He is not the archetypal IAS officer we have come to recognise. Hari Om wears many hats — writer, poet, musician and singer — and is making waves with his ghazal albums. What started as a mere hobby has now turned into a obsession. So much so that today his melodious voice has become his identity.“Singing has given me greater satisfaction than becoming an IAS officer,” admits Hari Om who is secretary, General Administration Department in Uttar Pradesh government.

Though endowed with a dulcet voice, and singing right from his student days Hari Om began singing publicly only in 2015, taking everyone by surprise. Ever since, he has been flooded with requests to sing. The other day he readily obliged a small group of admirers at the Media Plus auditorium here in Hyderabad.

Main tere pyar ka mara hua hoon, Sikandar hoon magar hara hua hoon... he sang. An unabashed fan of Mohd Rafi and ghazal maestro, Mehdi Hasan, he is gradually developing his own style of singing. Initially his civil servant colleagues thought his interest in singing was a passing phase. But when he cut three albums they knew his singing is no flash in the pan. “Everyone knows that I am singing and there is no objection from the government,” says Hari Om.

Fascinated by Hindi literature, he did his doctoral thesis on the novels of feminist writer, Krishna Sobti. He also developed a liking for the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and released his first album Intisaab to mark the poet’s birth centenary celebrations in 2011. There’s been no looking back after that and two more albums followed quickly — Roshni ke Pankh (Wings of light) and Rang ka Darya (River of Colours).

Hari Om has also published his short stories under the title Amreeka, Meri Jaan and his Hindi poems Khwabon ki Hansi .

Having worked as Collector of 11 districts in UP, he has seen life at close quarters. And all this is reflected in his writings. “There is lot more in me waiting to come out,” he says and recites the verse:

Aankhon mein samaye huye manzar ki tarha hoon

Main boond hoon aansu ka, samandar ki tarha hoon


The literary streak in him has broadened his vision and perspective of life. “Now I take greater care in dealing with people’s issues,” says the young civil servant who was in Hyderabad on an official visit as election observer. On the insistence of his admirers he has agreed to give a performance at the NTR auditorium in Telugu University on Wednesday evening.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The Hindu

Dated December 12,2018